Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Congrats on building positive image, Muhyiddin tells 'clever' PM

Muhyiddin Yassin today “congratulated” Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for cleverly using his resources to create the perception that everything was good.

"I wish to congratulate the prime minister.

"He is clever at using the available resources to build the perception that everything is okay," the former deputy prime minister told the House when debating the Budget 2017 speech.

Muhyiddin said Najib had offered a lot of "sweets" to the public, and likened it to drugs.

"It’s like economic opium to make people high with little handouts, but the main problem is unresolved," said the Parti Pribumi Bersatu (Bersatu) president.

However, Muhyiddin, who is Pagoh MP, did not specify what the "sweets" were.

Among the goodies announced by Najib in Budget 2017 are higher 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M), increased allowances for imams, and a RM500 special assistance payment to civil servants.

Earlier at the start of his speech, Muhyiddin was given a gentle reminder by deputy speaker Ismail Mohamad Said, not to touch on sub judice matters such as 1MDB, the US Department of Justice lawsuits involving 1MDB, and the RM2.6 billion scandal.

Following this, Muhyiddin skipped certain parts of his written speech – a copy of which the media received in advance – and also changed most references from Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) to either Pekan, which is Najib's constituency, or prime minister.

However, he still questioned how the government was going to pay off 1MDB's debts.

"MO1 didn't explain in detail how these debts would be paid by the government," he said.

MO1 is a public official whom the US Department of Justice claimed received US$731 million allegedly stolen from 1MDB.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan has said that MO1 is the prime minister.

This is the first time Muhyiddin has addressed the House since he was sacked from Umno. - Mkini